Other projects of the Beaches Round Table
Barcelona’s beaches are urban beaches that have traditionally been managed as quality municipal open spaces where priority has been given to providing a good service to users. The new environmental, social and economic reality of the city, within the framework of the new European and Mediterranean requirements on integrated management of coastal areas and other aspects such as climate change, resilience and ecosystem management, imposes the need to update the current management model for Barcelona’s beaches.
The Beaches Round Table was created in 2017 as an internal City Council forum to rethink the management model for Barcelona’s beaches, bearing in mind that the city’s beach capacity was reaching its limit. The aims and objectives set out in the Round Table were validated in the participatory forum of the Coastal Plan in December 2018.
What are we doing?
In every term of office since 2018, the Beach Directorate has drawn up a Beach Action Programme, updating the annual beach projects to be developed and implemented both in terms of improving services and in terms of developing strategic projects to constantly improve the space. The Programme seeks to achieve a more natural environment; safer, more accessible and better-connected beaches; socially conscious activities; optimised and more sustainable infrastructure and services; litter-free beaches that are healthier, climate resilient and more inclusive; and improved governance. At the end of each season, it reviews the main service data and the results of the strategic projects to detect areas for improvement.
One of the most important projects carried out in recent years was the definitive approval of the byelaw amending the Byelaw of 27 November 1998 on the use of public streets and spaces in Barcelona to ban smoking on the city’s beaches. Data from the Beach Information Service (SIP) during the implementation of the regulation show that the policy has been well received, as the total percentage of people smoking on the beaches has dropped below 1% and the average rating for the initiative is of 8 out of 10, indicating a high degree of satisfaction. These results speak to the success of the initiative, especially considering that they come from the first years of the regulation and that the city government has been prioritising work providing information and raising awareness of the problems linked to tobacco use.
Other strategic projects implemented in this past year include the opening of a Purple Point on Barcelona beaches to help prevent, address and raise awareness about gender violence and LGBTI-phobic violence in this setting; the drafting of an Improvement Plan for the Fòrum Swimming Area, which includes the launch of a Facilitation Service in the space and the physical adaptation of the area to make it safer; and the introduction of a series of measures to improve the assisted swimming service on the beaches, including the addition of a new point on the Bogatell beach, an accessible changing room at the Barceloneta beach and an accessible baby changing area at the Fòrum swimming area, and infrastructure improvements at the various points.
